F.V. man charged with first-degree murder after man is shot and dumped in the ocean

A Fountain Valley man was arrested Thursday morning and has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of a man who was shot and dumped off a boat near Oceanside, according to authorities.

Prosecutors allege the victim, whose name has not been released, was lured onto a boat in Dana Point Harbor on Oct. 14, ostensibly to go on an overnight fishing trip. The man’s body was found several miles northwest of Oceanside two days later, authorities said.

The San Diego County medical examiner’s office later ruled the death a homicide and determined that the victim had drowned after being shot and suffering blunt force trauma, according to prosecutors.

Hoang Xuan Le, 38, was arrested at about 5 a.m. Thursday following a raid on a home in the 18000 block of Third Street in Fountain Valley, near the intersection of Magnolia Street and Talbert Avenue, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. He has been charged with first-degree murder, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

One of the boat’s owners — Sheila Marie Ritze, 40, of San Juan Capistrano — is charged with being an accessory after the fact, prosecutors said. Ritze was arrested in San Juan Capistrano early Thursday, according to the FBI. Investigators suspect she also was on the boat at the time of the slaying, citing video footage from the harbor and cellphone records.

Prosecutors allege that Le — who purportedly had told people, including the victim’s girlfriend, that he had decided at the last minute not to go on the fishing trip — told a source cooperating with investigators that “he took the victim out on the boat, confronted the victim about a debt owed, shot the victim, tied weights to the victim’s ankles and sank the victim’s body in the ocean,” according to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaints.

The same source agreed to wear a wire and arranged to buy drugs from Le at the Fountain Valley home on Nov. 10, prosecutors said. In a secretly recorded conversation, the affidavit said, Le confessed to carrying out the killing because the victim owed him $30,000 to $40,000.

Le also is alleged to have told the source during multiple recorded meetings that he was willing to be hired as a “hit man,” prosecutors said. Authorities say they found an AR-15-type rifle, a shotgun and a crossbow at the Fountain Valley residence Thursday morning.

Witnesses told the Daily Pilot that they saw Le, with a large bandage across his forehead, being taken from the home at about 7 a.m.

Quan Trinh, who has lived on the otherwise quiet block for 17 years, said he heard noises “like thunder” very early in the morning, as well as the sound of helicopters overhead.

Other neighbors who knew the homeowners said they rented out portions of the large two-story house. It was not immediately clear how long Le had been living there.

On Thursday morning, federal agents placed evidence removed from the home on a nearby curb. The collection included large brown bags, bank boxes and long tubular boxes.

According to the affidavit, a search of Ritze’s phone records showed she was looking to buy a bulletproof vest in the days before the killing, had purchased a tracking device later found on the vehicle belonging to the victim’s girlfriend and, a few weeks before the slaying, had suggested killing a different person on her boat using a gun with a silencer. Investigators also allege that phone records suggest Ritze was canvassing the harbor for cameras five days after the killing.

Neither Le nor Ritze entered a plea during their initial appearances in federal court in Santa Ana on Thursday afternoon. U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Scott denied bond to both.

The two are scheduled to return to court for preliminary hearings Jan. 2.

Le’s court appearance was brief. He wore blue jeans, a blue T-shirt and sandals and said little while standing beside his public defender, aside from acknowledging that he understood the allegations.

If convicted, Le could face a sentence of life in prison without parole or the death penalty, prosecutors said.

Ritze could face a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

Julia Sclafani, Hillary Davis and Luke Money are Daily Pilot staff writers. Richard Winton writes for the Los Angeles Times.

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